Gayle Williams (18 December 1973 – 20 October 2008) was an aid worker for SERVE Afghanistan of joint British and South African nationality. She was shot on her way to work in Kabul, Afghanistan by two men on a motorbike. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, claimed responsibility for her death and said she had been killed “because she was working for an organization which was preaching Christianity in Afghanistan.” She was known to be fascinated with Afghanistan, and in love with her people. In response to her murder there were calls for Christian Aid Workers and Organizations to not evangelism or proselytize, which is illegal in most Muslim countries. Ironically Williams was known to be wise and careful, never proselytizing. And yet her actions seemed to have spoken louder than any of her words.
Blogger Valerie said this about Williams shortly after her death:
Violence seeks to cultivate fear. The intent of the Taliban is to create fear among the aid workers so they will leave. Yet, courage allows them to stay. Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the perseverance to go forward in the face of fear. And in the witness of Gayle Williams, we see a young courageous Christian preaching Jesus through her living and through her work. Her witness, in her living and in her dying, is to a faith and a compassion that gives us the courage to struggle for peace through the gift of presence.
Is seems trite to say this, almost like a “throw away” comment, but how do we testify to what we believe without forcibly proselytizing other people?
Do we have to talk about Jesus in order to talk about what Jesus means for us?